Client Protection

Security of Financial Information and Best Practices for Businesses

With today’s rapidly changing technology and increasing attempts at fraud, business people know how critical it is to stay on top of the latest trends in financial safety and security. Below are some recommendations for “Best Practices” for business owners.

Maintain Standardized Internal Controls

• Perform background checks on all staff.
• Implement a “Zero Tolerance” policy for internal theft or fraud.
• Institute and maintain a “need to know” policy on financial matters.
• Develop employee transition and termination procedures that include login credentials and passwords.
• Use secure mailboxes for outgoing mail that contains check images or account numbers.
• Establish policies and procedures for the destruction of secure documents.
• Establish policies and procedures for the publishing of executive signatures on any kind of electronic document.
• Implement a security awareness program for all employees.

PC and Network Security

• Do not divulge network or PC login credentials to anyone.
• Stay up-to-date with anti-virus protection and use firewalls.
• Download and install security patches.
• Beware of file sharing.
• Encrypt your data, including e-mails that contain sensitive information.
• Mask account numbers and tax identification numbers in electronic correspondence, showing only the last few digits (e.g., Account No. XXXXX5432).

Best Practices for Online Banking

• Use a dedicated PC or laptop for all online banking activity. Do not permit or allow any other kind of Internet activity to take place on that machine.
• Avoid setting up Super Users who can electronically control the online access of others in the organization.
• Use dual control methodology for initiating and approving all online payments.
• Incorporate multi-factor authentication (e.g., tokens) into the login process for every user.
• Restrict the use of ACH and wire templates to "repetitive" or "semi-repetitive" whenever possible.
• Review online banking activity daily and immediately report any suspicious transactions to your bank.
• Use Positive Pay to monitor check clearing activity.

Other Best Practices to Help Maintain Financial Security

• Reconcile your accounts frequently (daily is optimal).
• Secure bank statements when not in use.
• Implement ACH Debit Blocking on accounts that should never receive electronic debits.
• Implement Reverse Positive Pay on accounts that should never issue checks.
• Use safety features on your check stock and store blank checks in a secure place when not in use.
• Secure cancelled check stock, including images of cancelled checks, and destroy remotely deposited checks within 14 days of deposit.
• Purchase your check stock only from known vendors.
• Establish separate accounts for credit and debit activity.

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Client Safety at the ATM

The Bank of Tampa wants to ensure that all of our clients are provided with valuable information to protect them from crimes related to financial activity. To this end, we are recommending that you take a moment to review the following:

• If you notice any suspicious persons loitering at or near an ATM or any other type of unusual activity occurring, please use another ATM or return to the ATM at another time. Contact law enforcement if necessary.
• If you notice any unsafe conditions at one of The Bank of Tampa’s ATMs (such as light fixtures being out), please contact us at (813) 872-1200.
• Please be aware that Internet e-mail is generally not secure. E-mail sent to us by outside sources via our public domain is not encrypted and may not be secure. Confidential information should not be included in e-mails sent to us.

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Free Credit Report

It is very important to always remain aware of the potential for identity theft. The Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) mandates that the three major credit reporting agencies make your personal credit report available to you once a year at no cost. Your free credit report may be retrieved at the following website:

www.annualcreditreport.com

Please be aware that your “basic” credit report is available to you at no cost. If you want to know your actual “credit score” or wish to sign up for a credit monitoring service, the credit bureau that you select will charge a fee for the additional service. The basic credit report itself is very thorough. Upon review, if you find anything that appears incorrect in your personal credit report, the website provides procedures for reporting the error to the credit bureaus.

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Fraud & Identity Theft

Each year, thousands of people are victimized by financial crimes such as identity theft and other forms of fraud. The Bank of Tampa is constantly working behind the scenes to ensure that client information and financial transactions are protected to the highest standard possible. At the same time, we ask our clients to frequently and carefully review their account activity and immediately let us know of any discrepancies.

The United States Federal Trade Commission maintains a website to provide a one-stop information resource for consumers and businesses pertaining to fraud prevention and response. Please review the information on this site and bookmark this valuable resource for future reference. The website is:

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Fraud Alert Management

To protect your Visa Check Card (also called a debit card) and Visa Credit Card accounts, we monitor your transactions for potentially fraudulent activity, which may include a sudden change in locale (such as when a U.S.-issued card is used unexpectedly overseas), a sudden string of costly purchases made, or any pattern associated with fraud trends around the world.

Suspicion of Fraudulent Debit Card Activity

If we suspect fraudulent activity is occurring on your Visa Check Card, we will be calling you to validate the legitimacy of your transactions. Your participation in responding to our call is critical to prevent potential risk and to avoid restrictions we may place on your card.

• Our automated dialer system will ask you to verify recent transaction activity on your Visa Check Card.
• You will be able to respond using your touchtone keypad.
• A toll-free number will be provided should you have additional questions.

Suspicion of Fraudulent Credit Card Activity

If an alert is raised on your Visa Credit Card account, you will be contacted by an automatic dialer system to verify your account activity. When contact is made, the automated dialer system will handle the call as follows:

• The call will be identified as coming from The Bank of Tampa's Card Service Center.
• The automated system will confirm whether the call recipient is the cardholder by speaking the cardholder's name.
• If the cardholder is unavailable, a message is played asking that the cardholder return the call and the appropriate toll-free number is provided.
• If the cardholder is available, the system verifies the cardholder's identity by prompting them to enter the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Once your identity is confirmed as the cardholder, you will be prompted to confirm the reported transaction(s) as legitimate or suspect using your telephone keypad. If you indicate that you do not recognize the reported transaction(s), the call is automatically routed to a Fraud Alert Management representative so further action may be taken. If all transactions are acknowledged as legitimate, the call is completed and no action is taken.

Protecting Yourself from Card Fraud

Unless absolutely required for a legitimate business purpose, avoid giving out your:

• Address and zip code
• Phone number
• Date of Birth
• Social Security number
• Card or account number
• Card expiration date

Important Points on Debit Cards

• Your PIN is private. Never give it out.
• In stores and at ATMs, always cover your card and PIN and watch for:
  • Cell phone cameras, mirrors or other tools used to view cards and PINs.
  • People watching your transactions.
  • Cashiers taking your card out of sight. Take your card to the register yourself.
  • Any unusual activity occurring at an ATM. If you feel uncomfortable, go to another ATM.
• While online, you should never respond to unsolicited e-mails that:
  • Ask you to verify your card or account number. Such e-mails are not sent by legitimate entities.
  • Link to websites. Such sites can look legitimate, but may collect data or put spyware on your computer.

Our goal is to minimize your exposure to risk and the impact of fraud. To ensure we can reach you whenever potential fraud is detected, be certain to keep us informed of your current phone number and address at all times.

Additionally, if you are planning any travel abroad, please inform us at (813) 872-1200 or contact your banking office so that purchases and withdrawals made overseas will not be flagged as suspicious. Informing us of travel overseas will ensure uninterrupted use of your Visa Check and/or Credit Card.

Finally, it is important to be diligent in monitoring your card account activity. Please contact us immediately at (813) 872-1200 if you identify any fraudulent transactions.

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Internet Security and Privacy Practices

Information Security at Our Site

The Bank of Tampa is committed to providing a secure Internet environment. Keeping your financial and personal information secure and confidential is one of our most important responsibilities. The following measures are used to protect our systems and your information:

• Our website offers up to 128-bit encryption, which protects information sent across the Internet. We strongly advise using a browser that supports this level of security. Our website may be viewed with virtually any browser; however, a browser with 128-bit encryption is required to use Personal or Commercial Online Banking.
• Personal and Commercial Online Banking uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, a protocol for managing online message transmission. SSL protects the information sent between Personal or Commercial Online Banking and your computer.
• Please be aware that Internet e-mail is generally not secure. E-mail sent to us via our public domain is not encrypted and may not be secure. We do not recommend including confidential information in e-mails sent to us.
• We use firewalls, intrusion detection and virus protection systems to protect our systems from unauthorized access by individuals or networks.

Browsing Our Site

Visitors to our website who are not logged on to Personal or Commercial Online Banking remain anonymous. Clients using Personal or Commercial Online Banking must enter their access ID and password in order to access their account information with The Bank of Tampa. A “session cookie” is required to maintain a secure Internet connection and is automatically deleted once you sign out or reach the “no activity” threshold. We do not collect any information from the session cookie. The Bank of Tampa also does not use cookies to track Internet use after a visitor or client leaves our site, including Personal and Commercial Online Banking.

Links to Other Sites

We may provide links to non-Bank of Tampa companies such as Harland Clarke, our preferred check printing company. If you choose to link to sites not controlled by The Bank of Tampa, we are not responsible for the privacy or security of these sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of such sites.

Aggregation Sites

Aggregation sites are Internet sites that permit you to consolidate account information from various sources for viewing on one site. In most cases, the aggregation provider usually requests access to your personal information. You should ensure that the aggregator has the appropriate policies in place to protect the privacy and security of any information you provide or to which they are gaining access.

If you provide information about your accounts with The Bank of Tampa to an aggregator company, all transactions initiated by the aggregation site via the access information given will be considered authorized, whether or not you were aware of a specific transaction. If you decide to revoke the authority you have given an aggregator company, we recommend that you change your Bank of Tampa password to ensure that the aggregator company cannot continue to access your account.

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